(No major spoilers - I’m keeping this experience-friendly.)
I recently watched Mr.Robot series. At first, I simply thought it was a story about fancy technical stuff, taking down something corrupt or bigger than the protagonist. but as the series went on, it is more than that, a story about identity, how morallity plays in tough situation. a protagonist who wants to save the world. but in order to save the world, he has to save himself from his own mind. This blog is just my raw thoughts after finishing the show - nothing fancy, just how it made me feel.
One Liner
The story follows Elliot Alderson - a cybersecurity engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. He joins a group called fsociety, whose goal is to hack E Corp and erase the world’s debt, thereby redistributing wealth.
Series Opening
This is one of the best series opener I have seen, it starts with a monologue from the Elliot
There’s a powerful group of people out there that are secretly running the world. I’m talking about the guys no one knows about. The guys that are invisible. The top one percent of the top one percent. The guys that play God without permission.
This single line shows, how Elliot sees the world, who his targets are and so on. Then the scene shifts towards Elliot being his vigilante hacker thing, when he confronts Ron aka Rohit, a guy doing illegal stuff.
This scene make me like Elliot as a character more than anything, in this scene he doesn’t want anything fron Ron, Elliot is stoic in this scene, exactly like an Robot, just does things what he wants without any emotion or needs, he does not sway away with material things. Even when Ron tries to fake a sympathy with him about his personal life
This scene also showcases, Elliot’s technical stuff, which shows he’s a cut above any normie
That’s the part you were wrong about, Rohit. I don’t give a shit about money.
Technical Masterclass
One thing i love in Mr.Robot is how it treats hacking realistically. Nothing feels dumbed down. The attention to detail is insane - every hack feels grounded in how things work. And unlike many shows, Mr.Robot doesn’t rely on magic shortcuts. The hardest part about any hack in the series and in the real life is setting up the right circumstances for the hack.
Psychology in Mr.Robot
The core part about the series is not just with its technology. It’s the psychology that makes this series special. Every hack is rooted in understanding the target’s mind - not just their machine.
Hack doesn’t mean you simply hack computers. It also mean hacking the mind(Social Engineering).
Every main character has a layered, complex psyche - especially Elliot. His duality and persona all adds up a unique spice to the story.
Psychology of the ending
Even the ending ties together the core themes of the story. It’s not about having a gaint commercial ending where a group fighting and taking down a biggest evil. All the major evil is taken down before the final two episodes. The final two episodes focus on the minds and psychology of Elliot as a character
At first glance, Like all general audience I miss the big fight, a badass and goosebump movement at the end. But after a small while, I understand this is how a proper story to end. It brings a full closure at the end. A complete character development, along with the final emotional twist at the ending, that’s chief’s kiss.
Mr.Robot made me to understand, not all great stories should end with a big fight for a proper ending.
This clearly show me how much the creator pre-planned the ending
Other things i like about Mr.Robot
- Music and OST: I enjoyed the music and ost in the series, especially the songs played in the background when no dialogue is needed, along with the thrilling sound tracks when in some series situations like a hack.
- Complex Psyche: The show focus on main characters with different psyche, working towards a similar goal for different reasons. It reflects the condition of real world, some works because they like, while some works for money, some for a delusional thought, while some for a higher purpose, while some works on obligation and so on. This shows reflects that perfectly.
- Flawed Characters: Flaws make any form of media relatable, “we humans, can’t associate ourself with perfection, because we are far away from it”. In this series, almost all characters are flawed to some extent, which adds a unique flavour to the story.
- Awesome dialogues: Some of the important thing, i like in any series is it’s dialogues, dialogues makes me feel the beauty of the situation and provide things to interperate in our mind.
- Breaking of fourth wall: When the concept of Breaking fourth wall is done correctly. it brings a new layer to the story. In Mr.Robot, Elliot constantly talks to the viewer as an imaginary friend, even the series opener about the top one percent of the top one percent are his monologue to the viewers. I am planning to compile all of my favourite dialogues and monologues of Mr.Robot, along with its context to the situation in another blog.
Some things i don’t like about Mr.Robot
- Character development of some characters: some characters, a very few does not seem to have a proper ending, those character story simply exists and finishes for the sole purpose of Elliot character growth.
- Slow Burn: I don’t mind slow burn series, when the story is progressing somewhere, while Mr.Robot fulfils that, sometimes i feel like the setup takes too long, and sometimes it feels too slow. It is not a show to simply binge watch in a single day, you should watch a episode and let your mind interpret for some time.
Conclusion
Overall, Mr.Robot is a slow-burn psychological ride about identity, loneliness, and the battle inside our own mind. It heavily focuses on how people are prisoners of their own mind. If you enjoy character-driven stories with tech and philosophy sprinkled in, give it a try. The closure and the final twist in the series finale left me thinking and reshapes my perspective about a fitting ending.